It is becoming apparent by this time…
July 1683 CE
It is becoming apparent by this time that Charles II will have no legitimate heir, and the Duke of Monmouth, Charles' illegitimate son, is regarded by many as preferable to the Duke of York.
The dissolution of Parliament in 1681 has left James’s opponents with no legal method of preventing his succession, and rumors of plots and conspiracies abound.
With the "country party" in disarray, Lord Shaftesbury, leader of the opposition to Charles's rule, has fled to Holland where he had died in January 1683.
Rye House, a manor house in Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire, is owned by a well-known Republican, Richard Rumbold.
The plan is to conceal a force of one hundred men in the grounds of the house and ambush the King and the Duke on their way back to London from the horse races at Newmarket.
The royal brothers had been expected to make the journey on April 1, 1683, but there had been a great fire in Newmarket on March 22, destroying half the town.
The races had been canceled, and the King and the Duke had returned to London early.
As a result, the planned attack never takes place.
News of the plot had leaked and on June 12, 1683, the plot had been publicly discovered.
Charles and his supporters are quick to act: on July 27 a royal declaration is issued stating the heinous nature of the plot.
Many well-known members of Parliament and noblemen of the "country party", which opposes the Court party and are soon to be known as Whigs, are arrested.